A high brow book report…  **

In the introduction to this book, Weinstein writes, “persons attempting to find in my book a standard biography of Jonathan Franzen will be … disappointed.”  This would not be an issue had the description in Amazon started with this line.  Instead, it said, “Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage is the first critical biography of one of today’s most important novelists.”  Unfortunately, Weinstein’s warning was accurate.

This is not a biography of Jonathan Franzen. If readers know anything about Franzen, then they know more than this book will reveal. The Comedy of Rage is simply a book report.  Weinstein writes about the books and stories Franzen has written and gives a detailed critique of each.  Any reference to Franzen’s life is only an attempt to tie the writing to the man, as any novelist knows, a writers work may have a reflection of one’s life but iis not a one to one correlation.

The analysis of the characters in each of Franzen’s novels is somewhat interesting, but why not just read the novels for yourself?  Weinstein writes as if this is a paper being presented to a gathering of English professors and he needs to impress them with his grasp of language. Franzen’s novels are complex, challenging, and literary. A book report does not need to be.

The other warning that should have come with this book is that it is full of spoilers.  If a reader has not read Franzen, especially his newest – Purity, Weinstein reveals way too many plot points that will spoil the enjoyment of discovery.

My advice would be to pass on this book, unless you have read all of Franzen’s work. But if you have, then there is no need to read this unless you need fodder for a book report of your own.

This one gets two stars.